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Law professor Bruce Pardy recently spoke with Ezra Levant about Alberta's rising independence movement and why October's referendum may actually be used to defeat it.

Pardy asserted that the referendum questions could be framed in a way that may convince people who are on the fence about independence that Alberta can still prosper as a Canadian province.

"Think of the Alberta population right now basically in thirds ... let's say a third are strongly in favour of independence, a third are strongly against, and the outcome of a referendum on independence will depend upon that middle third," he said.

"There are an awful lot of Albertans who are not happy with the status quo in this country, but they're not quite convinced that independence is the way, they're not quite ready to ditch the country," Pardy continued.

"So here's how the referendum will work: They're going to be given a whole series of questions that look like Alberta has a third choice. And the third choice is that we'll fix these policy areas, and then we'll vote on these four or five constitutional amendments ... this middle third of Albertans may well think think that there's a third choice, [that] we can fix things without leaving the country," he added.

Pardy went on: "The problem is this: those choices don't really exist. If you vote in favour of constitutional amendments like this, nothing is going to happen. Alberta held a referendum in, I think it was 2021, on equalization, and 62% of Albertans voted in favour of removing equalization from the Canadian constitution. What happened? Nothing."

Alberta's upcoming provincial referendum is currently scheduled for October 19, 2026. It will ask voters to weigh in on nine questions focusing on provincial control over immigration and potential constitutional changes, including on sovereignty.